Mexico fall '24 | FindPenguins

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Trip start
November 5, 2024
Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Into CDMX
November 5, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Arrived CDMX by myself, got my stored luggage, and got shuttle to airport hotel. We Hotel was a decent place and easy access to airport.
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Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Reconnecting in Villahermosa
November 6, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C
Morning flight from CDMX to Villahermosa, just an hour (in business class!). Bill met me at the airport, and we took a 2+ hour bus to Palenque.
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Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Ruinas de Palenque
November 8, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
We took a local colectivo to the Palenque ruins, very cool Mayan archeological site.
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Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Waterfalls
November 9, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Took an organized tour to see some spectacular waterfalls. As is often the case, we spent close to an hour driving around picking up folks. Then a drive to the first falls, nice and tall, but the cool thing is you would walk behind them (misol ha). This was a fairly short stop.

Then another hour up into the jungly mountains to Agua Azul, which is a long series of calcified terrace falls. Very pretty, although way too many vendors in our face, especially the persistent little kids.

We walked all the way up to the swimming area, and the cool water was very refreshing.

The drive back seemed to take forever, and our van broke down half-way home so we waited for another to take us all the way back.

All in all it was over 8 hours, about half of which was driving. But I think the amazing falls were worth it.Read more
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Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Mayan train
November 11, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
We took the new Mayan train from Palenque to Campeche. Almost all the passengers were Mexican, and many of them were seemingly very excited to be experiencing a train ride, I believe a first for most of them. Along the journey as we passed towns, a lot of people outside were taking photos/videos as well. Cool to see the national pride at this substantial infrastructure project.

The train ride was pleasant. Our one issue with the Maya train is that the stations all seem to be quite far out of town. In Campeche there were no waiting taxis, so a nice security guard called on for us, and it took a good 25 minutes for a taxi to get out to pick us up.

The train is a bit shorter than the bus, but more expensive and added expense of taxis on either end. We are glad for the experience, but I think we'll stick to busses for the rest of our journey.Read more
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Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Campeche
November 15, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
We gave ourselves 5 nights in Campeche, to slow down a bit. It's a cute colonial walled town, with a few tourist sites. We like it, but it seems very quiet, like we're very off season. I don't think we are, I think it's just a town that has some, but not a lot, of tourism. Better restaurant selection than Palenque

We also really like our Airbnb, and the pool has been much used!Read more
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Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Merida
November 16, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
Bus to merida. We got in late afternoon, and took a taxi to our Airbnb, which is very cute and has a pool. As is our habit, we unpacked and then headed out to find groceries. We walked blocks through uninspired streets, finding nothing more than minimarts. Finally we made it to the downtown area and stopped for guacamole and a drink. Then a few more blocks to a bigger soriano store.

We didn't want to walk the mile and a half home, so we Ubered - the streets were packed and loud and chaotic. Our first impression of Merida wasn't very good.Read more
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Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Merida walking tour
November 17, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ 🌧 28 °C
We like starting off with a walking tour when we're in a new town. This mornings walk to the meeting point was through a much more charming part of town. It was also Sunday so there were blocked off streets and tons of people riding bikes (every Sunday)

Walking tour was fairly interesting.Read more
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Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Uxmal
November 19, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
We headed to the Mayan ruins of uxmal. But we didn't want to take a tour - expensive and it didn't cover the entrance fees.

So we Ubered to parque San Juan on the south side of town, took a colectivo to the small town of muna, then tried to find a ride the last 16 kilometers to the ruins. The town had tons of tuktuks around, so we figured they were commonly used to take tourists.

We found one that agreed to take us (after he got gas), and, um, not the best idea. His poor bike was pretty underpowered for the additional carriage plus two more humans. So it was a slloooow ride, maybe going 15-20 miles an hour. But we made it.

The ruins were fascinating, and some very different architecture style from other Mayan ruins we've seen.

When we were done, we had trouble finding a way to get back to muna. There were no cabs or tuktuks around. We finally walked out to the street, and the nice lady running the coffee truck offered to call a taxi for us. There was also an Aussie tourist going the same way, so we shared a cab with him.

Back in muna we wandered around looking for lunch, and found a small place.

Then a colectivo back to merida, then an Uber back home. Whew, we were wiped out!Read more
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Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Bus to Valladolid
November 20, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
3 hour bus ride from Merida to Valladolid
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Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Chichen itza
November 22, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
We finally made it to Chichen Itza! This morning we got up (kinda) early and walked to the colectivo stop. 160 pesos got us two round trip tickets.

We arrived around 8:40, so the big tour busses hadn't arrived yet, and the vendors were just setting up. So.many.vendors!!!!!!!!!!!

The site was pretty cool, although tbh it's not my top Mayan ruins ( I really like tikal, Palenque, and uxmal)Read more
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Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Old convent
November 23, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Wandered across town to see the old convent built in the 1500s. Then a really good lunch of tamales. Afternoon of pool relaxing, called Joe, talked to P&K
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Mexico fall '24 Traveler
Casa del la Venados
November 24, 2024 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
We went to the eclectic "house of the deer" - basically, a wealthy American dude and his wife fell in love with Mexico decades ago, and traveled often to many regions, buying arts and crafts everywhere they went. Then 25 years ago they bought this property and renovated it, and filled it with their thousands of pieces (last count 4+ years ago was over 4 thousand, and the gentleman is still traveling and buying more art). So the tour is his home, and many fun and interesting pieces from all over the country. Very unique.Read more
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Trip end
December 17, 2024